Ladder-shaped breads

Like one of the symbols of the Passion of Jesus, the ladder is also part of the Arma Christi. In the rites of Holy Week, it assumes particular importance in the rite of su scravamentu and sim., the removal of Jesus from the cross and his deposition.

Particularly suggestive in Alghero is the rite of deslaving on the evening of Good Friday, during which two of the four barons (barons) dressed in oriental clothing, climb high stairs, unfold and place the Christ on the coffin called bressol (lit. 'cradle'), an admirable work in baroque style decorated in pure gold. This is carried through the streets of the Catalan city now shrouded in twilight and illuminated by the soft light of candles.

In Orosei (NU) s'Iscravamentu, like the procession of the Misteros, is a rite that fell out of use in the early twentieth century and recently restored, also for identity reasons.

All the phases of this ritual (the liberation from the crown of thorns, the extraction of the nails, etc.) are accompanied by specific songs: the Stabat Mater, the Kirie and the Seven Ispadas of Pain.

The ladder is one of the emblematic signs of the Passion of Christ (chalice, glove, rope and chain, column, scourge, crown, cross, ladder, hammer and tongs, spear and sponge) that are carried in procession by the members of the Brotherhood of the Holy Cross in Castelsardo il Lunissanti.

The importance of this symbol in the rites of Holy Week is also speculated in the context of ritual breads with numerous variations, ranging from the simplest and most essential resolutions to the painted (decorated) variants. The latter category includes a specimen from Villaurbana (OR) kept at the Nuoro Costume Museum (ISRE), placed in support of this article. The staircase, freely reinterpreted figuratively within a triangular frame, is froria (decorated) with scissors that characterize one of the ornamental solutions of traditional bread making in Sardinia.

(Cover image: “Scala”, Villaurbana. Photo archive (ISRE)

Update

7/4/2025 - 10:16